Chapter 639: Chapter 537: Establishing the Magic Net System and Methods for Extracting Antimatter
The internal meetings among Legendary Councilmen didn’t stir much in the outside world, but some perceptive wizards still sensed the approaching war.
Because the council expedited various foundational constructions, especially the railway network between the major cities of the empire, which was the top priority, mandating completion within two months.
In addition to that, the council also reassigned a large number of laborers to the northern border and began to build various sturdy fortifications there; magic workshops also crazily expanded their recruitment, working overtime every day to produce weapons and ammunition.
Now, with an imperial population of twenty million, just the number of laborers reached a staggering four million, leading to a host of problems such as chaotic management, enslavement of workers, and deduction of wages following one after another.
Among them, the most serious was undoubtedly the problem of food shortage.
After all, the mass relocation of people from farming meant a reduction in food production and wasteland; fortunately, relying on the grain collected from various merchants, the empire barely managed to hang on until the summer harvest of the new year.
Large farms covering most of the central plains reaped an unprecedented bumper harvest under the combined effects of mechanical plowing and magical fertilization; tons of wheat were transported to every part of the empire by the railway network, directly nipping the impending food crisis in the bud.
But whether it was the joy of a good harvest or the gloom brought by war, it was all soon overshadowed by another piece of major news—The Magic Net developed by Councilman Lynn officially went into operation, and any wizard, apprentice, and even a portion of well-performing commoners could join it!
This was undoubtedly explosive news. Although Lynn had previously used the Magic Net to allow tens of thousands of wizards to witness the results of the double-slit interference experiment during an academic conference, this time it affected hundreds of thousands of people across the entire empire!
Upon the news release, countless apprentices throughout the empire who were confined by their limited talents and unable to advance were overjoyed and joined the Magic Net in droves.
And those who were most excited were undoubtedly the graduates of the civilian academies.
Alec was one of them, but he was much luckier than others. Born in Wizard Land, he was one of the first to enter a civilian academy. Yet, he was recruited early due to his excellent grades, becoming the envied airship pilot!
However, after the council’s war was over, Alec did not continue to climb the ranks through military merits but chose to return to the academy to delve deeply into subjects such as Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and more.
Whether it was his comrades or relatives, they all found his decision very hard to understand. After all, like them, as a commoner without magical talents, no matter how well they studied, the most they could do was to enter a wizard’s workshop and assist the high and mighty wizards.
Being a pilot, controlling the massive and intricate sky-airships, was the dream of countless people.
Yet Alec gave it up, for a simple reason: he was not content with it. Being born in Wizard Land, he knew a secret piece of information—Councilman Lynn, the star of magic, might have a method to turn ordinary people into wizards.
Because one of his apprentices was a halfling publicly recognized as having no talent for magic, who had been repeatedly rejected by Iyeta Academy in his attempts to become a Wizard Apprentice. In the end, relying on outstanding alchemy, he gained Councilman Lynn’s recognition with a flying airship and was not only taken as a disciple but also gained the ability to cast spells.
If he could perform well in the civilian academy, perhaps he too might be taken notice of by a great wizard.
Of course, the probability was extremely small. Alec had been in the academy for a full half year, almost excelling in every subject, yet he never met any discerning great wizard. However, he unexpectedly waited for this opportunity with the opening of the Magic Net.
Excelling in performance, Alec smoothly became one of the first one thousand people to test the drug, receiving a dose of the “Spirit Awakening Magic Potion.”
This thing was actually a weakened version of the “Magic Source,” originally intended for apprentices to break through to official wizard status. But now, with advancement relying on the bolstering of computing power by the Magic Net, which is much safer, there was no need for it anymore.
The master alchemists in the council then weakened its effects to one-fifth of the original, allowing ordinary people to consume it safely; likewise, its efficacy was greatly reduced, only granting a slight amount of magical power.
Fortunately, that was enough—at least it met the minimum requirements for learning meditation techniques and connecting to the Magic Net.
Under the watchful eye of a magic potion master, Alec shakily took the magic potion and downed it; the blue liquid flowed down his throat, and soon his body was filled with intense pain and a burning sensation.
But Alec didn’t care, because for the first time he felt the existence of magic power, his body seemed to be boiling, his soul leaping with excitement…
“Very good, seventh experimental group, number three hundred and forty-five, no adverse reactions…” The potion master glanced at Alec and quickly recorded the data on a sheet of paper.
About ten minutes later, Alec emerged from the physical transformation brought on by the magic potion and hurriedly closed his eyes to try the technique of communicating with the Magic Net. A wave of magic power sped toward the distance at the speed of light and was quickly received by a magic power station.
It felt like his brain was about to explode. As Alec got used to it, he found himself in an infinitely dark void, with gray runes floating in mid-air, dazzling like stars.
Alec instinctively reached for the rune closest to him, and a wealth of information instantly flooded his mind, turning the gray rune into color.